Is Hating Your Partner Normal?
When I’m treating a couple in therapy and flashes of hate appear, I’m never worried. In fact, I’m more worried
Tag: mental health
Teenagers as Sitting Ducks
A recent article in The New York Times dramatically chronicles the quiet mental health pandemic we are undergoing as a
The Magic of Finding Our Voice
“When did you lose your voice?”, I asked Paula. She said, “I know exactly when.” Paula didn’t realize that her depression had anything to do with her marriage. She thought she had a chemical imbalance. Until the therapy with the family, Paula didn’t even let herself know that she felt angry at being shut out by her self-assured husband. She had given up trying to get him to hear her, and her quiet despair and helplessness showed up as depression. As the therapy unearthed these patterns, she discovered her voice. Her mood lifted.
Relationship Imbalance Instead of Chemical Imbalance
For the last thirty years ago a story has been built up about depression that it’s caused by a “chemical
Hope for a Hopeless Marriage
When this couple came into therapy, it looked like end-stage marital disease. They had been tearing each other apart for years and barely remembered a time when they were happy together. Then something happened in the session that totally turned it around
Good Sex For (Male) Dummies
Sexual problems in a relationship, including erectile dysfunction, typically reflect a more subtle dysfunction in the underlying dynamic of the couple. Helping the guy to become less cautious with his wife can be a powerful libido-stimulator
A Little Girl With Bipolar “Deserves” A Trial of Lithium
This is a Two-Part Post: Dave: This illustration gives a picture of how the use of a psychiatric diagnosis and
A New Understanding of Emotional Distress
Our current cultural model for conditions like anxiety and depression uses language like “chemical imbalance”, implying that suffering is related to our brain chemistry. In this post, Dave Keith offers another perspective that looks at our moods as dynamic states related to the context of our living patterns.
From “The School of Life”: How To Be Confident
Amy: Check out this small, funny reflection on “confidence” from Alain de Botton’s The School of Life. The video points to the
Psychological Symptoms As A Sign Of Health
“Chemical Imbalance” has become a generally accepted way to think about psychological conditions like depression and anxiety. But David Keith offers another perspective: In fact, emotional problems may be a sign of mental health.